How an interior designer made a vintage duplex on a Hong Kong outlying island her own
Rowena Gonzales had long had her eye on the Ma Wan house she encountered on her runs – then she secured a long lease and let her imagination run wild
Of all of Rowena Gonzales’ serendipitous finds over the years, nothing beats the Spanish-style hacienda that stopped her in her tracks during a run on the outlying island of Ma Wan a decade ago.
The whitewashed, terracotta-roofed vintage duplex boasting graceful arches and ornate wrought ironwork so captured the interior designer’s imagination that she immediately moved in – mentally.
In early 2023, when Gonzales, founder of Liquid Interiors, learned that the tenants of one side of the house were leaving, she decided to make it a reality. Her family of four were more than ready to give up their cramped high-rise apartment, also on Ma Wan, for a home that would allow them to connect with nature and give them the space to explore their creativity.
“It had always been my dream to have a rooftop and a garden,” says Gonzales, a Filipino-Canadian who has lived in Hong Kong for 18 years. She and husband Jeff Floro, who is in sales, managed to secure a five-year lease for the three-bedroom, 1,500 sq ft home plus rooftop – along with permission from the landlord to upgrade the place, built by his parents as a weekender in the 1970s.
While its exterior, framed by greenery, was attractive, the interior was “beyond basic”, says Gonzales. Although the four-month works schedule included a refit of the kitchen, three en suites plus a powder room, costs were kept in check by adapting and reusing as much as possible. In line with her eco-conscious design ethos, Gonzales advocates against unnecessary demolition in all her projects, resulting in environmental and time-saving benefits.
